


Frustration

by Antares10



Series: Banned-Together-Bingo-2020 fics [5]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Banned Together Bingo 2020, Frisk is talking, Frisk telling the humans no, Frustration, Gen, Monster-Human-Relationship, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, humans can be the worst, monster magic, prompt: Bitterness towards Oppressors, very optimistic take on monster on the surface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25447507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antares10/pseuds/Antares10
Summary: The monster are on the surface and Frisk has to bring humanity to a brighter and better future in accepting the monster as people, even if humanity has to be dragged kicking and screaming towards this future.That doesn't mean it doesn't get frustrating sometimes.A small fic about frustration, how Oppressors try to oppress and how frustrating it is to be the good guy and deal with it by not showing them all under a mountain.
Relationships: Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Frisk & the humans, Frisk & the monster
Series: Banned-Together-Bingo-2020 fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802935
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Frustration

**Author's Note:**

> So, about the setting: 
> 
> True pacifist ending. Frisk is aware of Chara but never did a geno run. They instead befriended Chara or what is left of them. Chara is kinda around but not an active player and is not really a bad guy. Neither of them got corrupted here. Both of them just pretty much want this happy ending and they will get it.  
> Humans thou are a difficult bunch and dragging their feet all the way.  
> The world this is set in is NOT our would. It's a fantasy world and left intentionally vague. It just works a lot like our modern world.  
> Some parallels can be drawn. Or not. I leave this up to the reader.

Frisk was a force of determination and mercy and it stumped humans that this one child wouldn't back down on anything. Nobody knew just how to deal with this.

Most humans were not used to be told no. Especially powerful and older ones. Or, well, some of them were used to it but not that it would STICK.

All the tricks were pulled. Media releases and rumors that Frisk was unstable or just a misguided child used as a figurehead. There was bullying, attempts of bribing and manipulation. There even was an attempt of assassination and Sans to this day didn't know if they were all just lucky that Frisk still was a master of dodging or if Frisk retained their ability to save and load, even without holding the power to reset anymore. In the end Frisk was alive and well and their NO was still standing in the world like a big, blue stop sign.

Fact was, the humans were faced with one of them who wouldn't back down, couldn't be shouted over or ignored or manipulated into something else or just killed off. Frisk moved like a glacier, slow but steady and not bothered by the things that tried to stand in their way.

The laws trying to restrict monster to Mount Ebott were thrown out, just like the ones trying to separate monster from humans via living space. Laws that prevented Monster children to attend the same schools as humans, learn and practice the same jobs, gain the same income? Thrown out. And many, many more.

Frisk didn't back down until a law was drafted that defined monster as citizen, as having the same rights as any other human, but it was a hard and exhausting to that goal.

And Sans shuttered at the thought that apparently humans were doing stuff like this to each other, dividing each other and making differences even between themselves, to say what humans were desirable and which were not and drawing lines and fences between each other so easily. And they didn't had a human like Frisk on their side to tear them all down again.

Most of monster history before the war was lost, so many monster turned to human history to research the past and well... it never was a pretty sight. It seems the few surviving observations of monster scholars in the past were still holding true:

A monster's soul was made of of kindness, love and magic. A human soul however could survive without any of those.

Or worse even, their souls could still hold love and kindness... and were still able to do horrible, horrible things to each other if they were convinced it was the right thing. Be is out of fear, of hate, of not understanding or simple greed or apathy.

From what Sans had gathered, Frisk was an outliner and their situation even more so. Rights, equality and gaining a citizen status like this came never easy but always with a bloody price payed over a long time. And now Frisk was in the process of speeding these things up in an almost scary rate.

They were marching forward, determined and brave and dragged the whole of humanity after them kicking and screaming and snarling and clawing at the ground, but in the end unable to deny the Savior of the Underground.

But kicking and screaming they did.

A new law tried to surface, three months into them living on the surface, three months into building homes and traveling to the close by city back and forth.

A new law about magic.

Humans were afraid of magic, just like the humans in the past were afraid of the monster's ability to take a human soul to gain more power, despite the fact that no monster even done so, not even during the war.

The only monster who ever did so was Prince Asriel, the soul given willingly to him and the powerful being being killed by humans still without taking a single life himself.

And Sans, as he read the outlines of the new law, was deeply afraid that history would repeat itself again.

A law that forbid monster using magic, a law that made it mandatory for monster to wear special bounds around their body to block the magical flow when interacting with humans, a law that outlines serve punishment for using magic, not matter for what and why.

All with the reasoning that magic was dangerous and could hurt the humans.

As if humans couldn't easily hurt a monster, any time.

As if monsters weren't magic down to their core, as if using magic was as natural to them as breathing for humans. As if most of them couldn't STOP using their magic because it would mean stopping to live. As if the whole law wasn't just a bundle of fear and misinformations and an attempt to push the monster away again.

To push the monster back and back and back down under the mountain and into the history books so the humans wouldn't feel uncomfortable about what their ancestors had done to them.

It was unfair. Plain and simple. Sans was not a guy to get angry but he remembered his magic flaring when reading about all of this. He remembered the deep, deep anger, to bright and hot and almost alive, it scared him.

He was not the only one. He saw Toriel, he noticed how the Bossmonster had to struggle to keep herself under control and even Asgore got this dark look in his eyes.

But still, Frisk wouldn't let this go without a fight. Sans knew so, because the last three months were just like this: Frisk fighting with all their might for the monster. Asgore and Toriel firm behind them and then Papyrus and Undyne and Mettaton and Alphys. There was monster kid and the former royal guard, the Snowdin dogs and Napstablook and the flame elementals from Hotland, there was even Grillby giving his silent support and the whole Temmie village showing up whenever there was support needed. There were even some humans, protesting and screaming and signing petitions and demonstrating for the rights of monster, for other humans to SEE, to accept the history as it happened and the responsibility of having pushed a whole community into exile.

But there were just as many humans protesting and shouting and demonstrating to get the monster to leave.

It was the humans who casted them down underground and it was the humans who were snarling and trying to chase them down again and it just won't happen again!

And Sans? Sans tried to be there for Frisk too, offering shortcuts out of meeting halls and overcrowded staircases and towards somewhere calm and open, fresh air and some food brought from Grillby's where Frisk could decompress and just be the kid they were for a moment.

“Rough time, huh?” Sans asked as they sat on the roof of one of those super official buildings one of the latest meeting was in. It was a nice day, a soft wind ruffling Frisk's hair as they ate their sandwich slowly, nodding at Sans.

“You do know you can take a break from time to time?” Said Sans as he noticed the clear signs of exhaustion on the kid's face. Dark circles under their eyes and a tightness to their shoulders Sans knew was from sitting and tensing and holding back all the time.

“I can't. Not yet.” Mumbled Frisk.

“Kid, really... as... as thankful we all are...”, and royally screwed without you..., “this whole thing would not really be any good if you run yourself to the ground. You ARE still a kid.”

“But I am the only one who can help.” protested Frisk. “Humans... humans are like this. They are horrible to you. They gonna push and push and push. And when you finally talk back and say something like “please don't hurt me” they'll laugh. And if you tell them “if you hurt me, I hurt you back” they will scream and accuse you of being evil and cast you down again because they feel all justified for it.”

Sans looked down. That... that sounded actual really close to what he was thinking could happened.

“That's why they made the barrier the way they did.” mumbled Frisk. “They KNEW you guys were good. But they made you get seven souls to free all of you. So the humans can say “See? They hurt others, so they are dangerous and deserve to be cast out and punished and not to have any rights and have their magic sealed away.” and feel all justified in whatever horrible thing they gonna do to you next.”

“Geez, kid...”, mumbled Sans, not knowing what to say, because... well... he often had the same thoughts about the whole thing. “That's dark.”

It was unfair... it was especially unfair because Frisk had to fix it for them.

Said Frisk just ruffled through their hair in frustration.

“They won't just give up. We solve this and then they come up with the next and whenever I concentrate on one thing, somebody else comes up with another, worse thing!”

Sans swallowed and scooted a bit closer, carefully touching Frisk's shoulder in an attempt to calm them. Frisk did seem to still at the touch before they turned and pulled Sans in a full hug, shaking and close to tears.

“Hey... shhhh...” Sans tried his best to calm the shaken kid. “Hey... we... we gonna figure it out. It's okay. I got you.”

“I wish humans would just... stop being like that for moment.” Frisk gasped out between dry sobs. “We are supposed to be better.”

“Well... you are.” Said Sans softly, petting Frisk a bit. “And I bet there are lots of pretty good humans out there too. We kinda have to deal with the worst right now.”

“Sometimes I think Chara was right.” Mumbled Frisk, causing Sans to perk up.

Chara was a... complicated topic. Sans never really knew them, with the whole “not being alive yet” thing going on while Chara was alive. But Sans heard stories, some of them... contradicting.

Chara was the symbol of hope for a possible future of friendship and peaceful relations between humans and monster. They were the adopted child of Toriel and sibling to Asriel. He heard stories of their kindness and the sad fate of their death. He heard stories of them being a troubled child, of nightmares and tears and Chara's strong love for monsterkind in general, and for Asriel especially.

He also heard Chara not... being a very nice person. Somebody who would go to great lengths for a goal they set themselves, their poor opinion of humans and their disinterest in making actual peace with them.

Frisk had shown him the tapes and talked to him about some of the experiences they had during their journey through the underground, believing the ghost of Chara was guiding and helping them.

It was Chara's plan to die and give Asriel their soul, it was their idea that Asriel was to take seven souls, any seven souls, to break the monster free and protect them forever.

“What exactly do you mean?” asked Sans.

“... they really didn't like humans.” said Frisk slowly. “It was not always the plan to just... get seven souls. Chara did think about just... flipping the script. Banishing all humans down underground or destroying them all.”

“Geez.” mumbled Sans. “That uh...”

“I know. They didn't do it in the end, and didn't really want to.” explained Frisk. “But I... start to understand them more and more. They were just... so frustrated. I wonder what their life before the Underground was like...”

“You and me both, kiddo.” mumbled Sans, still cuddling the child to himself.

“And Chara and me were humans.” mumbled Frisk. “Humans can be horrible to each other, but... but you guys are monster and humans are extra stupid.” They stopped their feet a bit. “If only they just listen! If only they just... STOP for a little.”

Sans kept petting them a bit. “Yeah... would be cool, you know?” He mumbled. “But... I guess we can't just make them, huh?”

“No.” said Frisk, almost sulking. “Even if we could, they would just start all over again or feel justified in being mean.”

“It's not a fair fight.”

“No it's not.” huffed Frisk. “But we gonna do it. I got all you guys... and Mom and Dad do so much too... and I won't let them win. I get them to drop that stupid law. And then again and again and again until they FINALLY learn to be not huge jerks to you guys...” They stopped for a moment before nodding. “And to each other...”

Sans smiled. “That sounds good kiddo. I bet that Chara kid would have liked that too.”

Frisk leaned into him and for a moment Sans could have sworn he saw a red glow in Frisk's eyes.

“They would.” They said.

A few days later, there was a hearing. Sans didn't understand all of it but apparently the humans were willing to listen to Frisk on the stance of magic.

And Frisk dragged him along to stand beside them as they spoke to the humans deciding the fate of monsterkin once again.

They were dressed smartly, handsome, making them look older than they were. More serious. There was a glint in their eyes again, Determination-Red and hard as stone and Sans wondered not for the first time what kind of human Frisk had been before the Underground.

“... you agreed to let me talk about monster magic today.” said Frisk, looking towards the other humans. Grown up and so much bigger and more powerful but they were still looking at Frisk and none of them dared to look away. “But... don't you think that's dumb?”

There was some mumbles going through the group and Sans looked at Frisk with confusion.

“I mean... I am a human. I lived with monster a while, but what should I tell you about magic? What could I tell you about monsters... that they themselves couldn't tell you way better?”

Oh please, kiddo... don't do this. Yeah, they have talked about the possibility of Sans talking... but Sans hadn't really thought they would do it! Sans was starting to panic a bit when Frisk looked at him and smiled.

“That's why I brought Sans today. He is a monster. He has magic. He can tell you way better about it than I ever could.”

And suddenly, all those eyes were at him. So many human eyes but Sans knew that all the monster's eyes were on him too.

What was he even supposed to tell? What COULD he tell them? Magic was magic, it just... was not that simple.

“Mister... Sans.” one of the humans started, pulling Sans out of his internal panicking. “Can you please elaborate on the danger of magic to humans?”

“Danger of magic to humans?” he asked, not really sure what to make out of this.

“You can harm humans with your magic, right? And all monster have magic. So it should be controlled.”

Frisk was looking at him, all the humans were looking at him and Sans? Sans was looking to the side, where Asgore and Toriel and Papyrus many, many monster were standing and waiting, away from the humans. He looked back to Frisk and the strange red glint their eyes.

He shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Okay...” he said slowly, trying to get his thoughts together. He HAD thought about this after all. Talked to Frisk. He could... probably do this.

Big, life-changing speeches were so much easier if it was only him, the kid, and the hall of judgment. But just this once... Sans would just have to channel his inner judge one more time it seems.

Hopefully for the last time.

“I try to explain this.” he started slowly. “But for that I have to explain to you what magic actually IS.”

He looked up to the humans looking down at him. He held out his hand for them all to see.

“Magic is not just a power. Magic is what we monster are. We are literally just a soul, some dust and everything held together by magic.” he explained. “You look at me and see a skeleton. My bones are just dust but my magic makes them hold together and move.”

He moved his hands to demonstrate his point.

“Magic is what we are. It runs through us and is not something that can be simply stopped. But I bet you weren't really talking about the kind of magic that keeps us monster alive.”

He looked over the humans again. Most of them were looking at him still. Still listening.

“You probably only refer to the kind of magic that is emitted. That is shown.”

He summoned a small bone in his hand and some humans gasped.

“This, right? Look, I gotta tell you something about magic...” Sans let the bone hover a bit. “Magic is all about stats and intent. Every monster has an AKT and a DEF stat. The AKT shows how much we want something to happen, the DEF shows how much we are able and willing to stand our ground. But AKT and DEF don't really matter much to human or... overall.” he explained. “Magic is all about intent. What we want to happen. This bone here? I could hurl it at somebody's head, yeah. But without the intent to hurt, it will never ever even leave a scratch. Without the serious will to actually do harm, magic won't ever do harm.

But it's not the same for humans. You guys can hit me and I got out. Puff, 0HP and I am just a pile of dust. You humans can be seriously dangerous to us. And if a human really really wants to kill us? There is not much we can do against it. No matter our DEF, any human can overwhelm us.

But that was not the question, right? You didn't want to hear if you can hurt us, right?”

He sighed.

“And now we come to the point you actually are interested in... can a monster hurt a human? Well... the answer is yes... in THEORY.” He looked at everybody again.

“A monster could attack and hurt a human. Sure. But we monster, we are not made for that kind of thing. To be motivated to truly hurt somebody else... most monster wouldn't ever have it in their soul. Why do you think we lost the war so badly? Why do you think no monster ever took a human's soul? Because we are not made for this. It's not in our nature or in the nature of our magic.”

He let the bone disappear.

“And if we argue with theories... we shouldn't look at this one specific case anyway.”

He looked up at the humans, feeling his magic shift and shift and his eye starting to warm up as magic flew more and more through it.

“Anybody can take a knife or a gun and hurt others or even end another life. We are not special in that regard and the humans aren't either. We die just like you, make a bit easier. And we can hurt others, just like you. We just usually don't want to, just like the most of you don't want to hurt anybody.

We are not more of an danger to a human than any other human is to each other. And that's the whole truth about our magic. Everything else you have convinced yourself of, is just bad rumors and lies. And if you want to take away our magic on bases of danger, you have to put away every human too as our magic is not more or less dangerous than any human with a first or a knife or gun.”

There was silence. The humans clearly weren't expecting this. It was Frisk who spoke the first time again, their voice clear and unnaturally loud after the period of silence.

“I know you are used to this.” they said. “Finding reasons why somebody is dangerous so you have to push them away or do something to protect you. I have seen it and I have heard about and it's always the same. You even invent stories about people being oppressed because they are dangerous, because it's their fault a little bit just so you can feel better about being jerks to people who are just as harmless or harmful as you yourself.

But I won't let you do that with the monster. They are harmless. More harmless than any human. Any danger that you see is tenfold in any human. I won't let you do this. I won't let you finding justifications again. I won't let you hide behind lies and half-truths and fear and hate. You had your way for thousands of years. And it ends now. You can try again and again and I will still be here to tell you no.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop even more. Some of the other humans looked a bit pale now and Sans for the first time wondered what the humans saw in Frisk and he and the other monster saw their angel, the one touched by kindness and light and love who came from the surface and freed them. He wondered if the humans saw something different in the child with endless determination.

He wondered if they saw something powerful, something to be feared or worshiped.

Or just a human like them, a human that could be horrible and wonderful and powerful and frail just like them. A human who opposes them and who tells them know and can't be bought or bullied or pushed away.

The law was dropped as were the harmful ones before and as would many after it. Frisk, their angel, would always stand before the humans to tell them no, to drag them screaming and kicking and clawing at the ground to the new and better future without violence and without the need to put anybody under a mountain.

And Sans and all the other monster were standing right behind them, protected under the protective wings of their angel and protecting their human just the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Banned Together Bingo 2020 with the prompt: Bitterness towards Oppressors.  
> Why did I choose Undertale and the Monster? Because a) I don't feel really qualified to write and talk about more RL issues and don't think I have the talent to tell a story in those settings and b) because I can do with Undertale something a lot of stories with a similar setup don't let me do:  
> See, a lot of stories are supposed to be metaphors for oppressed minorities. Like for example the X-Men who are said to be a stand-in for the queer community and so on. But do you know what I hate in those stories? They give the oppressed minorities some kind of power, something that makes them dangerous and KINDA justifies the oppressing party being dicks to them. Like "See? BOTH sides have a point because group A can be DANGEROUS and group B are dicks, yeah but group A can be DANGEROUS."  
> And that kinda... undermines the whole POINT, you know?  
> Not so with the monster. Yeah, they have magic and in the game they CAN kill you. But so can YOU. You as Frisk can kill the entire Underground with a bit of skill and with your terrifying ability to SAVE and LOAD and RESET. And the ability to absorb a human soul to be a being of great power? DURING THE WHOLE WAR IT NEVER HAPPENED. Just keep that in mind: There was a WAR. And not a single monster managed to get a human soul. Heck, the only time we hear about that happening was because Chara GAVE Asriel their soul... and even as this super powerful being? Asriel was slain by random humans in a random village who probably didn't had super advanced weapons and THEN Asriel just got out-determinated by us.  
> Which led me to the conclusion that Monster are not a bit more dangerous than any random human with a knife or a gun or just with a pair of first.  
> And well... they work a lot better as an stand-in for oppression I think. So I wrote about the monster. And I think many people still manage to clutch their pearls about this one.  
> Luckily, the monster have Frisk and they will stand up for themselves too. We in the RL sadly have to drag ourselves to be better. We have to do that one by ourselves. It's a work in progress but it's worth doing so.  
> (And thinking about this now, I think this note in the end can be seen as "to political" too XD But yeah, gonna write a fic for that prompt too ;) )


End file.
